What is Rehab and What to Expect

Your first time at a rehab facility can be an extremely daunting and panic-inducing situation, however, it is necessary to help you recover from whatever addictions you have. Your time at a rehab center will give you the lift beneath your wings needed to achieve sobriety and to live a sober lifestyle, but it is always good to learn about what you can expect before you visit a rehab center. There are many addiction rehab centres Ontario which are all run differently, however, most rehabilitation centers tow the same line when it comes to the overall experience.

Most rehab centers follow a standard framework for treatments and therapy, even though there are many different providers – both state and private – out there. The fact that most centers run similar activities and therapies helps eliminate uncertainty and stress amongst people going into them, and it also enables a safe and supportive environment to be maintained at all times which better helps recovery and sobriety.

Here are some things you can expect from your visit to a rehab center, and how your typical day may pan out.

You Are Free to Leave

You are not imprisoned in a rehabilitation center and you are free to leave at any time. To this extent, there are no locks on the doors and you can simply walk out. Although this seems counterproductive, the whole point of rehab is that you are willing to undergo treatment. If you are not willing then you will not recover, even if you are forced to remain there against your own will.

If you enter a rehab clinic knowing that despite what happens you are going to abuse drugs or alcohol again, then there is no point in you being there; you are wasting their time and that is why you can leave whenever you so choose. Of course, if you have been forced to undergo rehab as part of the criminal justice process, leaving rehab will have repercussions for you.

You Will Be Detoxed

Some rehabilitation centers operate differently in their approach to detoxing you. Whilst some require that you have abstained from drug or alcohol use for a pre-determined period of time prior to entering the clinic, many will detox you whilst you are there.

Today, many clinics will enable you to go through the drug or alcohol detox and withdrawal process there at the facility where you can be monitored and treated. Typically, a detox takes between five to seven days, however, this can vary depending on the individual and what they are detoxing from. An alcohol detox is quicker than say a heroin detox, for example.

There Will Be Specialist Facilities and Educational Initiatives

The facilities and standards at each rehab clinic will vary. Just like a hotel, a rehab clinic can vary from being something like a prison camp to something which represents a five-star hotel with all the luxurious bells and whistles. The rehab clinic which you go to of course depends on your mean – you very much get what you pay for, however, all rehab clinics serve the same purpose, which is to treat addiction.

If you are going to a state-owned and operated facility or have been mandated to rehab by the courts, then don’t expect to be getting silver service or be benefitting from anything more than the most basic facilities needed to aid your recovery and treatment.

Lots of rehab clinics also provide educational initiatives as education is increasingly seen as a core component of achieving sobriety. The educational components, again, vary from clinic to clinic, and the educational initiatives are aimed at teaching you about drugs, alcohol, addiction, how to look at your addiction in the right way and to change your attitude about it.

In the earliest stages of drug or alcohol recovery, many patients will still be in the “denial” stages and there will be a heavy focus on education to encourage these people to look upon their addiction frankly and accept that they have one. Without admitting that you have a problem, treatment is virtually impossible as the willingness to get better is not there.

Family Visits

The most successful rehab initiatives will include family visits as part of the rehabilitation process. Specialist research has shown that by including friends and family in treatment and education, it helps improve the process and speed up recovery times. Some rehab clinics will include friends and members of your family throughout the day-to-day treatment process, whereas others will bring them in occasionally or towards the end for following up and aftercare.

During family meetings, those closest to you will learn about addiction, how it has affected you, how it has been treated and how you are responding to it. They will also teach your family how to aid your recovery when you have left the clinic and how to move forward and ensure that addiction is something which remains firmly in your past.

A lot of rehab clinics will require family members to undergo meetings and educational classes prior to visiting you, this helps your family learn in detail about the nature of your addiction, how they may have been unintentionally enabling it and how best they can help you going forward.

Booking into rehab and facing your addictions is always going to be a daunting and unfamiliar experience. Even the most luxurious of rehabilitation clinics are not the ideal places to be spending time, however, if you are serious about recovering from whatever it is which has a hold on your life, they are the best places for you.

Adjusting to life in rehab, especially if you are there for the long-term, will be difficult. Over time you will begin to make friends with people there as you connect over something you all have in common, and the many educational activities, facilities, and the overall rehab experience will help you achieve sobriety and stop enabling your demons from destroying your health.